UNIT 12:

MAKING INFERENCES and

PREDICTING

Objectives:
To make inferences based
on stated details in a
reading text

To predict the organization

of ideas in a reading text
1. Making inferences
What is an inference?
Making inferences is a higher-level thinking skill in
comprehending ideas of a passage. An inference is an idea that
we conclude based on stated details in a reading text or a
passage. The process of making an inference is also called
reading between the lines. The stated details give us the
meaning clues or hints to make a conclusion. We rely on the
ability to make a supposition based on actions or feelings that
are stated in a reading passage. There is an element related to
our own experience in identifying what is not directly stated. In
our daily life, a doctor makes an inference as he or she
diagnoses conditions of a patient. The conclusion or the
supposition should be logically drawn, and it is not explicitly
stated in the reading. Making an inference is a process to deeper
meaning and makes us more aware of the author’s purpose
What are some common types of
inference questions?
Some inference questions will have the word infer,
suggest, or imply. Look at the following examples:
1. Which of the following can be inferred about X?
2. The author of the passage implies that X ...
3. Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 1
about X?
When you decide an answer to an inference question, you
have to be sure that your answer does not contradict the
main idea of the passage. Also, the correct answer must
be inferable from the passage This means that you
should be able to defend your choice by pointing to
explicitly stated information in the passage that leads to
the inference you have selected.
Example
• “...The nineteenth century brought with it a burst
of new discoveries and inventions that
revolutionized the candle industry and made
lighting available to all. In the early-to-mid-
nineteenth century, a process was developed to
refine tallow (fat from animals) with alkali and
sulfuric acid. The result was a product called
stearin. Stearin is harder and burns longer than
unrefined tallow. This breaktrough meant that it
was possible to make tallow candles that would
not produce the usual smoke and rancid odor.
Stearis were also derived from palm oils, so
vegetable waxes as well as animal fats could be
used to make candles ...”
• Which of the following can be
inferred from paragraph 1 about
candles before the nineteenth century?
 
a. They did not smoke when they were burned.
b. They produced a pleasant odor as they burned.
c. They were not available to all.
d. They contained sulfuric acid
Predicting the organization of ideas in
a reading text.
How do you predict the organization of
ideas in a reading passage?
• When you make a prediction, use key words and
ideas in the passage, your general understanding
of the author’s message, reason, logic, and
common sense.
• A paragraph may start out with the idea of the
previous paragraph as a way of linking the ideas
in the two paragraphs. A paragraph may also end
with an idea that will be further developed in the
following paragraph.
Example:

Another program instrumental in the

popularization of science was Cosmos.This
series, brodcast on public television, dealth
with topics and issues from varied fields of
science.The principal writer and narrator of
the program was Carl Sagan, a noted
astronomer and Pulitzer Prize-winning
author.
1. The paragraph preceding this passage most probably
discusses
A. a different scientific television series
B. Carl Sagan’s scientific achievements
C. the Pulitzer Prize won by Carl Sagan
D. public television
 
2. The paragraph following this passage most likely
contains information on what?
A. The popularity of science
B. The program Cosmos
C. The astronomer Carl Sagan
D. Topics and issues from various fields of science
Another example of questions on making inferences
and predicting what is discussed in the previous
paragraph and the following one.
Ever since people discovered the importance of
exchanging information, communications have been vital
to society. Improvements in communication have
broadened people’s knowledge of the world. Today it is
possible to follow events taking place around the globe
simply by turning on television or logging onto the Internet
yet, for much of human existence, communication moved
only as fast as a person could move.
A breakthrough occured in the fifteenth century with the
development of printing with movable type. In the 1830s,
Samuel Morse’s invention of the telegraph showed that
messages could move at the speed of electricity. Since
then, telephone, radio, television, and satelite relays have
continued to revolutionize communications. Today the
revolution is still going on.
How many of the following statements can you infer or
conclude from reading this passage? Check as
many as you know to be true, based on
the information in the passage.

• ___Societies value the exchange of information.

• ___The Internet is a form of communication.
• ___Before the fifteenth century people had no
technology.
• ___The telegraph is a form of communication.
• ___Samuel Morse invented electricity.
• ___The passage was written during a war.
• What does the paragraph following
this passage probably discuss?

A. Improvement in our standard of living

B. How satelite television has changed
society
C. Global events at the turn of the century
D. Current breakthroughs in
communications technology
THANK YOU